Make in India is about global quality at low cost: Jaitley

Updated: Monday, December 29, 2014, 19:26 [IST]

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New Delhi, Dec 29: Rejecting the contention of economists against India adopting an export-led growth path, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Monday said the Make in India programme is about manufacturing quality products at low costs, and is not relevant to whether these are sold in India or abroad.

"Whether Make in India is made for consumers within India or outside is not so relevant. The principle today says that consumers across the world like to purchase products which are cheaper and are of good quality. They hire services which are cheaper and good quality," Jaitley said referring to the changes wrought by globalisation at a national workshop here on the programme.

"The manufacturing sector will continue to face challenges unless it transitions itself while keeping quality and price in mind," he added.

Earlier this month, Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan had said Make in India assumes an export-led growth path like China's and the programme should rather focus on manufacturing products for the domestic market.

"There is a danger when we discuss Make in India, of assuming it means a focus on manufacturing, an attempt to follow the export-led growth path that China followed," Rajan said.

"I am cautioning against picking a particular sector such as manufacturing for encouragement, simply because it has worked well for China. India is different, and developing at a different time, and we should be agnostic about what will work," he had added.

"I am counselling against an export-led strategy that involves subsidizing exporters with cheap inputs as well as an undervalued exchange rate, simply because it is unlikely to be as effective at this juncture," Rajan clarified.

According to the RBI governor, the country needs to look to regional and domestic demand for growth.